Targeted Training through Talent Management

The best companies use their talent management strategy to target training resources to impact the bottom line. But how do you know which managers need what kind of training? In this article, we’ll explore what talent management means and how to create a strategy to maximize training resources.

Shotgun vs. Rifle
Many companies use a shotgun approach to leadership development. Their reasoning is that if a training course is good for one person, it must be good for everyone, so it is rolled out throughout the whole organization. Additionally, many organizations do not take the time to do an analysis of real training needs, particularly on a person-by-person basis.

The problem with this approach is that the training may not be relevant to many people- not to mention the added training costs! Repeatedly rolling out new training programs leads to a “flavor-of-the-month” mentality. With no real strategy in place that guides organization development, training programs lose impact as employees question the organization’s commitment to the program. On a personal level, employees don’t recognize how the training impacts their potential for promotion or improved compensation.

The best alternative to the shotgun approach is to align training needs with the talent management strategy of the organization, with rifle and scope accuracy.

Defining Talent Management
There are many definitions of talent management today. Simply put, talent management is everything an organization does to attract, hire, develop, and retain its employees. A talent management strategy determines how an organization goes about doing these things. The strategy is determined by the needs of the organization (rapid growth, change in focus, acquisitions, downsizing, etc). Once a talent management strategy is created, development is provided in a way that aligns with that strategy.

One of our clients is a mature company that recognized it will lose 50% of its senior management team over the next 10 years due to retirement. Part of the company’s success (and its talent management strategy) has been to promote from within. In order to target those who were possible successors, high potential candidates were identified through an in-depth assessment process and talent review meeting with senior leaders. These candidates were then provided specific training and development experiences to groom them to take on senior leadership roles in the future.

Conduct a Talent Inventory
Part of creating a talent management process is quantifying the talent that exists so that you know how to apply training resources. This can best done in two steps:

    1. Talent Assessment
    There are a variety of assessments that can be used to identify employees with management potential and evaluate the leadership effectiveness of current managers. Assessment tools can include one or all of the following: performance reviews, psychometric assessments, 360 degree feedback, employee engagement results, or face-to-face interviews. The more information you have, the more accurate the overall measurement of ability. Relying strictly on the opinion of a single supervisor often eliminates a wealth of information that might exist from other sources.

    2. Talent Review Meeting
    During a talent review meeting, the senior management team discusses the leadership ability of managers individually. The individual’s direct manager is also present to provide first-hand insight. This meeting is most effective when there is data from various assessment sources to use to evaluate each person (see step 1).

    We have found that input from the individual’s direct manager is typically confirmed by information from the assessments. The assessment information also offers additional insight that can be used to make promotion decisions. In cases where the manager provides a glowing review, but the assessment information says otherwise, there is a need to reconcile both sets of input to make an accurate evaluation.

Grouping Talent
Once each potential and current leader is accurately assessed, the next step is to group individuals based on leadership effectiveness and potential. We have defined four overall groups with specific development outcomes for each:



Targeted Training
Now that each individual is accurately assessed and grouped according to specific development outcomes, it is easier to determine how to allocate training resources. Using the table above as a reference, the following provides broad recommendations on how to apply training effectively:
  • Low Performers: They either need to improve (quickly), transition to another position in the company, or leave. Be careful not to waste training resources here.
  • Strong & Steady Performers: The focus here is to provide clear direction and additional job specific training.
  • Top Performers: Recognize them, provide autonomy, and give them key assignments to keep them engaged. Many times, job-specific training is only necessary for this group when the environment shifts.
  • High Potentials: Provide them with coaching, mentoring, stretch assignments, and the training they need in order to develop into the future leaders of the organization.
Specific individual training needs are further defined through the assessments used during the Talent Inventory.

Conclusion
Training programs need to align with the talent management strategy of the organization, which is tied to the overall organization strategy. There are three outcomes to this targeted approach. First, training is provided only where it is needed, thus conserving the training budget. Second, participants are more committed to learning because it impacts their progress in the organization. Third, it works, and has the added benefit of garnering greater support from senior management because they can clearly see how it improves the organization.

Copyright 2008 by DecisionWise, Inc.